Glass Reunion

There's more sparkle
and light these days in the L-shape North Gallery on the second floor of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
That's because the intimate space holds about 60 pieces of blown, cast,
sandblasted and molded glass objects that represent five decades of studio
glass production by contemporary American, European and Asian masters of the
medium. Given to the IMA by Marilyn and Gene Glick, the complete collection of
about 240 items remains one of the largest of its kind in the United States.

Jami Stall

One of three mixed-media pieces in the collection from Therman Statom, Green Chair with Base was created in the early '90s, and it involves assembled sheet glass, bonded then painted and then embellished with found objects (such as glass shards and wood).

As interesting as it is
to view them on platforms, suspended from walls and perched in polished glass
cases within their new home at the museum, it's more fascinating to imagine
them positioned throughout the Glick's personal residence through the years.

During the preview
evening of the Masters
of Contemporary Glass: Highlights from Marilyn and
Eugene Glick Collection, one
visitor standing before Therman Statom's Green Chair with Base casually mentioned that Marilyn so loved the pieces that she
displayed them in their home. But they weren't isolated in special off-limits
rooms or kept in look-but-don't-touch display cases. He spoke as someone
who knew Marilyn personally and explained that she appreciated her art
immensely and wanted it to be a part of her life -- wanted to live with it and
enjoy it.

He had been the Glick's
neighbor and described himself as a glass artist. Though he's been known to
instead say he's really "a physician who does art." As such, Jeffrey Rothenberg
happens to be the chief medical officer of IU Health and an associate professor
in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the IU School of Medicine. And,
yes, he's also an acclaimed local glassblowing artist -- and he did know the Glicks personally.

"I glued back some of
the pieces that had broken off of that," he says, pointing to light-green
straight-back chair made of glass. Not that he whipped out the Super Glue. Instead he used a special epoxy made for such glasswork.

"Marilyn had these pieces
sitting in her home; her grandkids played around them. She lived with her art;
over time, some things get broken," Rothenberg says.

Jami Stall

An influential teacher from Toledo, Ohio, Harvey K. Littleton was instrumental in making glasswork a studio art. His Blue Crown is best viewed in person to witness the full effect of its radiance and dancing colors.

He recognized a lot of
the works and, in an almost curator-style, spoke intelligently
about many of the items in the gallery. For example, he says the Green Chair with Base, along with the glass Ladder and House adjacent to it, are all by American-born
Therman Statom, who he says is the only African-American artist in the collection. Rothenberg
goes on to point out a large-scale pastel green sculpture at one end of the gallery created by Howard Ben Tré. He says the 8-foot-tall structure resembling an immense chiminea was so hot when it was made that it had to cool
for two or three months afterward. He explained that something of its size must
sit in a special "annealing oven" that gradually lowers the temperature. "It would crack if it cooled too quickly," he says.

Curator of the
Collection, Charles
Venable, the Melvin and Bren Simon director and CEO of the IMA, was on hand
talking to members about the various items featured. He would've been pleased to hear
Rothenberg's appreciation of the exhibit's diversity of artists and methods
represented -- as that was Venable's intention.

"Out of around 240
pieces, this is about a quarter of it," Venable says. "We could make this all
just blown glass, but most people are interested in seeing a bigger variety
than that. So I made sure we had representatives of different types of
techniques, different artists from different periods -- younger artists and
older ones."

The earliest piece is
from the 1950s, but the vast majority is from the mid '60s all the way up to
about 2000, which is when the Glicks stopped collecting glass. The body of work
ranges from the simple to the sublime in terms of design.

Jami Stall

Jay Musler's Tray with 3 Goblets looks more like a service piece Tim Burton might use as a prop. Delicate, beautiful and yet bizarre, the tray and goblets feature crude Frankenstein-like sutures.

"I love the fact that
we go from sort of a simple glass bowl that you might say, 'Well, I've seen
millions of glass bowls,' all the way up to a weird, giant sculpture made of
glass that you'd never think somebody would ever have made -- an 8-foot-tall
glass sculpture," says Venable.

He says all of the
selections are "really top-flight pieces -- none are just nice, but slightly
ordinary." Still, he has a favorite among them.

"I love the work by
Richard Marquis because of his technique," Venable says. "They almost look like
little dice or something that are all chopped up and put back together into
beautiful glass pieces to get that pattern. I think he's a great master at it."

A studio glass pioneer,
Marquis went to the Venini glassworks on Murano back in the late '60s, where he
learned historic Venetian techniques such as "murrine" (mosaic) and "filigrana"
(filigree). A glasswork extremely difficult to master, filigrana incorporates multicolored
canes or "rods" of glass that are fused together to create intricate, layered
patterns.

Whether you have a
penchant for glistening glassworks or wish to see other forms of the art, this current
exhibit is sure to be a highlight of your next IMA visit. And once you've seen
it, you'll want to return. Venable says the items from the complete
collection will periodically rotate. For more information on this and other IMA exhibits, visit its website.